Roy Keane was born in Cork on 10 August 1971. He began his career at Rockmount F.C. in Cork, Ireland before moving to Cobh Ramblers FC. He was quickly spotted by Nottingham Forest who in turn signed him for a nominal fee. He then made his name at Nottingham Forest before moving to Manchester United for a British record transfer fee of £3.75 Million in 1993. With United, he won the FA Premier League seven times and the FA Cup four times, and played a major role in helping the team win the UEFA Champions League in 1999.

During his time at United, he was known for his inspirational leadership, excellent tackling and distribution abilities. He is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders to ever play in the modern era. Additionally, ex-player and BBC pundit Alan Hansen is of the opinion that Keane is the best player to have played in the Premier League since its inception in 1992. Manager Alex Ferguson regards him as his best player ever during his 20-year reign at Manchester United. Keane has led United to nine major honours during his captaincy from 1998 to 2005, making him Manchester United's most successful skipper.

Although Keane attracted praise as a player, he also had disciplinary problems, being sent off eleven times in his career, and notably suspended twice for the same foul on Alf Inge Haaland, once for the foul and again after admitting in his autobiography that the foul was deliberate. At the start of the 2005-2006 season, he left United after publicly criticising his teammates for their lacklustre performances, signing with Celtic for the remainder of the Scottish Premier League season.

He was captain of the Republic of Ireland football team for a number of years, being voted their best player as they reached the second round during the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He also playing a major role in their qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup turning in a number of inspirational performances that took the Irish team to Japan and South Korea before he was sent home after an argument with manager, Mick McCarthy. Keane was selected to the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest living footballers picked by Pelé, as the sole representative of the Republic of Ireland. Keane retired from playing professional football on Monday June 12, 2006, after receiving medical advice on a long standing hip problem. He is now the manager of Sunderland in the English Championship.

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